Max Verstappen feels like his Red Bull Formula 1 team has been "two races behind" on engine updates this season because it has not been a manufacturer's main priority.

The revival of Renault's own team in 2016 complicated the French manufacturer's relationship with Red Bull, which had been the de facto works team for several seasons.

It is one of the reasons Red Bull is switching to Honda engines next season, so it and its junior team Toro Rosso can benefit from being the Japanese manufacturer's only partners.

Speaking in Hungary, where he went on to retire from the grand prix with a suspected Renault MGU-K problem, Verstappen had outlined frustration at Renault and its rivals, Mercedes and Ferrari, enjoying less lag time from laboratory to race track.

Asked if he feared Renault not giving Red Bull the same treatment over the rest of the year, Verstappen said: "Difficult to say. For example, with the petrol, we could have had this last week [in Germany], but we only get it now, because they were not sure of reliability.

"It's these kinds of things. And if there are new parts, they will of course go to the factory team first, which is also logical but it's a pity for us.

"You just know that at Ferrari and Mercedes these are immediately introduced and then they might have advantage of that for one or two races, before the rest takes a step.

"So, we are always two races behind."

Red Bull uses a different fuel and lubricants supplier to the works Renault team and its other customer McLaren, and Renault must find time at its Viry engine headquarters to test upgrades with ExxonMobil's products on the dyno.

Renault, which uses BP Castrol, has previously stated that decision from Red Bull has cost it the full use of Renault's upgraded engine introduced in Canada.